


Close Encounters

by clotpoleofthelord (plantainleaf)



Category: Supernatural, Torchwood
Genre: Crossover, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-17
Updated: 2013-05-17
Packaged: 2017-12-12 02:26:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/806087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plantainleaf/pseuds/clotpoleofthelord
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An angel, a hunter, and an immortal from the 51st century walk into a bar...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Close Encounters

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by frecklesarechocolate's ficlet!
> 
> Thanks to her and to tundraeternal for beta duties :)

They weren’t going to get this finished tonight; Dean had figured that much out half an hour ago when what they thought would be a simple ghost turned out to be some sort of crazed water spirit intent on drowning the entire town. He ducked around a corner, dragging Cas behind him by the trenchcoat. The boiling wave rushed by, frothing angrily. The two slipped through the warehouse door and ran, feet pounding as they put as much distance as they could between them and whatever the hell that was.

Dean ducked into a doorway for shelter, still dragging Cas by the sleeve, and pulled out his cell phone and dialed. “Sam? You better have something for me, man. This is one angry-ass spirit.”

Sam’s voice crackled on the other side of the line. “I’m doing what I can, but the library’s records are all on microfilm. Hold on ...” Sam paused, and Dean heard a loud clicking and then a scolding voice. Sam muttered, “never mind, gotta go, librarian’s coming over and I shouldn’t be on the phone. I’ll call you back.” The line went dead.

Sighing, Dean tucked his phone away. This could take a while. He steeled himself against the cold rain and headed back out.

Finally ducking into what seemed to be the only open business in town, Dean and Cas found themselves in a bar lit by just a few candles spread throughout. It looked like the storm had knocked the power out in addition to flooding the streets with half a foot of water.

Dean shivered, water running down his face, and hurried towards the back, saying, “Grab me a beer, Cas. I gotta go take a leak.”

Castiel looked around the bar. It was warm, dry, and mostly empty, and there seemed to be a wide selection of beverages available as well as a menu with an array of dishes. Dean had chosen well. Cas walked to the bar and slid onto a stool, peeling off his sodden coat and carefully hanging it over the stool next to his. He picked up a menu, examined it closely, and decided on the appropriate items (two beers, two cheeseburgers, and fries). As he glanced back up to find the bartender and place his and Dean’s orders, a man slid into the open seat next to his and gave him a wide, white-toothed smile.

“I like the coat,” said the man, eyes twinkling as he swiveled to face Castiel. “Hi there.” He held out a hand. "Captain Jack Harkness."

Cas looked around for Dean, unsure how to handle the situation. Not finding the hunter anywhere, he turned back to the man. "Castiel." He examined the proffered hand before taking it tentatively in his own.

Jack shook his hand, squeezing slightly, and held the grip a second longer than Castiel believed was customary. Releasing his grip, the man leaned in and lowered his voice to a murmur. "You're not from around here, are you?"

Cas leaned in in response, caught an unfamiliar scent, and stiffened. "You are not human. What are you? What are you doing here?"

Jack's eyes widened and he let out a laugh, resting a hand on Cas's back and easing him closer. Cas found himself relaxing despite his misgivings. "Oh, I'm human all right, blue eyes. Just not a… a local, you could say."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean not from Earth. Or from this time, actually." He leaned even closer, eyes skimming down Cas's body. "And I'm guessing you aren't either."

Cas examined the man, intrigued despite himself. Now that Jack had mentioned time travel, the signs were obvious. His genetic structure was slightly different from a human of the 21st century and he showed signs of exposure to types of radiation not found in this section of the galaxy.

But there was something else as well; there was something Castiel couldn't quite put his finger on. But there was no doubt that this something was not what was causing the rain and the drownings, and Jack certainly seemed sincere enough.

Castiel realized from Jack’s curious look that he'd been staring in silence for longer than cultural norms permitted. Thinking back to Jack's question, he answered, "I'm an Angel of the Lord."

Jack seemed to be speechless for the first time in their brief interaction, but recovered quickly, face spreading again into that wide grin. Cas returned the smile tentatively, surprised and pleased by the human's response. "Now that's something you don't hear every day!" He leaned even closer, face inches from Cas's. "How about we find somewhere more private and compare our biology? I'd love to see what an angel thinks of 51st century pheromones." He winked. "And I gotta admit, I'm curious about angels."

Cas's brow furrowed. "My vessel is human; it doesn't differ noticeably from most 21st century humans of his age and origins."

Suddenly Cas felt a familiar warm presence behind him and a different hand landed on his shoulder.

"Hey, Cas." Dean's voice was low and tense. "Who's your friend?"

Castiel turned to face Dean, pulling out from under the Captain's arm. "Dean, this is Captain Jack Harkness."

Jack turned his grin to Dean. "We'll hello, there. Must be my lucky day to-"

"What do you want with Cas?" Dean interrupted, leaning between the two seated men.

Jack raised his hands placatingly. "Whoa, whoa. I was just saying hello!"

Cas frowned. “There’s no need to be rude, Dean. Jack was just telling me about his human biology. He is curious whether angel biology differs.”

Dean snorted. “I _bet_ he was.”

“All right, boys, cool it.” Jack stood and backed a step away. “Didn’t know you two were a thing. Not that that necessarily matters.” He winked.

Cas looked confused. “What kind of-”

“Drop it, Cas.” Dean turned to Jack. “Who are you, and how do you know about angels?”

“I could tell your friend here wasn’t human and I was curious. I’m not from around here myself; just passing through hunting something. Angels aren’t too common in Ohio; what’re you two doing here?”

“None of your damn business,” growled Dean.

Cas laid a hand on Dean’s arm, superhuman strength pulling him back to Cas’s side as blue eyes locked on green warningly. “Dean, I think he may be able to help us. I believe we are hunting the same thing.”

Dean stared back for a moment, then gave in, shoulders relaxing minutely. Cas removed his hand after a moment and the two looked back at Jack.

Jack glanced from one to the other, then shrugged. 21st century humans and their hang-ups were exhausting, and he didn’t want to have to sort them out. He’d thought that if he was lucky, he could get these two into bed with him; now it was looking like he might have to get them in bed with each other first, then see what happened. Getting all three of them naked was a long shot, but no one ever accused him of not being an optimist.

He switched into business mode, dropping a bit of the flirtation from his stance and tone. “So what do you know about aliens?”

\-----

It’d been a rough fight, but it was done. All three of them had gone down at one point or another, and Dean could have sworn that Jack had taken a pylon through the chest. He must have been seeing things, though, because the man seemed totally fine now.

With the alien safely tucked away in a shrinkable prison Jack had pulled out of his gigantic coat, the three headed back to the bar. It looked different with the lights back on, but the beer was still cold and cheap.

Grudgingly, Dean raised his glass. “To a good hunt.”

Jack tapped their beers together. Cas followed, a beat behind. His eyes hadn’t left Dean since the ghost had nearly pulled him under.

Jack turned to Cas. “So how’d you get into all this, anyway? I get the impression angels pretty much stay out of Earth matters.”

Cas blinked and tore his eyes from Dean’s face. “I pulled Dean from hell.”

“Literally or metaphorically?”

Dean set his empty beer glass down loudly. “Literally.” He raised three fingers to the bartender, who nodded. “How about you? You’re from the future and from outer space? How the hell did you end up in the Midwest of all places?”

Jack laughed. “It’s a long story. And you probably wouldn’t believe it.” His smiled turned a little sad. “You’ve never heard of the Doctor, have you?”

Dean and Cas shook their heads.

“Well, anyway. I ended up on Earth protecting Wales from aliens, and...” he took a gulp of his fresh beer, nodding at the bartender, “I lost some people. I thought it might be time for a change of scenery.”

Dean grimaced. “I get that, man.” He raised his glass again. “To absent friends.” Cas and Jack echoed the sentiment, clinking.

They sat in silence a moment, then Dean looked up at Jack. “That was a pretty hard hit you took in there. I’m impressed to see you on your feet.”

“What can I say? I bounce back quickly.”

Cas turned his stare on Jack. “No.” He tilted his head, examining the man. “You died. I felt your soul start to leave your body.” His eyes drilled into Jack’s across the table. “Then it snapped back. How did you do that?”

“You can feel that?” Jack leaned in, intent on Cas. “So I do have a soul? It’s still there?”

Cas nodded.

Jack’s body relaxed as if cut from strings. “I, uh, I wasn’t sure. When you’ve died as many times as I have, you start to wonder.”

Dean laughed. “Yeah. I know what you mean.” He gulped a beer. “You keep coming back, though?”

“Yeah. I had a run-in with the time vortex a few millennia ago, and so here I am. Still alive.” He took a swallow of beer. “Maybe someday I’ll find the Doctor, and he can tell me why. But until then, I’m just going to keep fighting.” He gave Dean a sad smile. “It’s what I know how to do.”

Dean’s smile was just as pained. He understood.

A silence fell for a moment as the two men sat lost in thought.

"Both of your souls are still whole human and firmly in your bodies." Cas said, breaking the silence and setting his beer down and glancing from Dean to Jack and back to Dean, where his eyes lingered.

“Closing time, boys,” said the bartender, wiping the counter. “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”

Dean groaned and stood, tipping the last of his beer into his mouth and rolling his shoulders with a crackle. Cas followed him closely as the three filed out of the bar and into the street.

Jack stepped off the sidewalk, opening the door of a black SUV as Dean and Cas began to head back towards the library to collect Sam and the Impala.

Jack turned back suddenly. "Hey!" He gave his sparkling grin. "Give me a call sometime. Cas'll know how to get in touch. " he winked.

Dean grabbed Cas by the arm before he could respond, growling. "No, he won't."

As the two moved out of sight, Jack heard Cas's voice drifting back towards him, saying, "Dean, he could be helpful on future hunts! He has knowledge we don't have that we might be able to..." His voice faded as they turned a corner.

Jack smiled. The alien was captured, no one had died, and he'd met two really attractive men. He laughed as he released the emergency brake and shifted into gear. He hoped they figured themselves out. And he hoped when they did that they'd give him that call.


End file.
